Direkt hin

Waste management

As a producer of waste, the airport company is obliged under legislation relating to waste and recycling management to avoid waste as far as possible. Where this is not possible, a programme to ascertain whether the waste can be recycled must be carried out before it can be removed. Since the owner or producer of the waste is ultimately responsible for where the waste is kept, regular on-site checks are undertaken at the relevant waste disposal sites.

Waste management places the emphasis on continuously checking for ways further to reduce waste and/or to increase the rate of recycling. This also includes running training courses to raise airport employees' awareness of waste management. 

Waste separation

Some 70 varieties of waste are produced at Düsseldorf Airport every year. This includes waste which does not require supervision such as paper or packaging, but also waste which does require supervision such as batteries, paint, varnish and operational materials containing oil. The whole waste stream is supervised and captured in the form of an annual waste balance and made available to the relevant supervisory body on demand.

Separation systems are deployed in the airport administration and in the terminal. In the offices staff separate residual waste and paper; in the kitchens, plastics, packaging and glass are also sorted; and corresponding systems are used in the terminal to separate these different types of waste. Residual waste, paper and packaging are collected in containers or large waste presses at various central points on the airport premises. All other waste such as small amounts of brake fluid, old paint and tyres or metal waste from the workshops can be deposited centrally at Düsseldorf Airport's recycling centre. Staff cleaning the aircraft interiors collect and separate paper and residual waste. Food waste is disposed of by the relevant catering company.

Old environmental damage and land management
IYears ago in the early days of the airport's operation, gravel pits on the site of the present airport were filled with all sorts of materials, resulting in lots of old waste deposits. When the building of the new terminal was being planned in 1998, the airport company commissioned utilisation research and a primary appraisal for the site. In order to be able to evaluate the situation regarding the old environmental damage against the background of the history of the airport's use and development, aerial photographs, topographical maps and documents were examined, inspections carried out and contemporary witnesses interviewed. It was thus possible to draw up a plan to deal with the old environmental damage, based on the information given about the areas affected and the nature of the respective contamination.


In the case of major building projects involving intervention deep underground, additional so-called field investigations are carried out, whereby soil samples are taken and analysed against specified chemical parameters. The results of the investigation give a precise indication of how likely it is that the site tested will contain toxic materials, and they help planning appropriate means of disposing of the waste. Where necessary, contaminated excavated soil is kept at a storage area long enough for the results of a chemical analysis to become available and a means of disposal found. All the relevant findings and processes are documented and made available to the supervisory body.